Potential Alien Threat
by DescartesThinksNot
Summary: Paranoid after the Chitauri invasion, SHIELD takes visiting aliens a little too seriously.
1. Harbinger of Disaster

**Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who or the Avengers. Just in case there was any confusion on the meaning of _fan_ fiction.**

"You're certain that he's an alien?" Natasha was on the radio with Fury as she followed a man in a long brown coat through the still under construction streets of New York. He seemed a little shocked, but mostly looked grieved and somewhat angry. He definitely looked human, but so did the Asgardians.

"We already have custody of his ship," Fury said. "Just bring him in."

Natasha nodded. "On it."

* * *

He noticed that he was being followed almost immediately. He couldn't tell who or how many were there, but he knew there was someone. He had missed this particular invasion and felt bad about it. It had been serious. But there were other people involved, he gathered from the posters and graffiti; a group called the Avengers.

Something hit him in the back and he felt woozy. He looked around, then pulled the dart out. He licked it, but nothing was coming to him. He stumbled in the crowd and ended up down a mostly empty alleyway. A woman dropped down from a fire escape and leveled a gun at him. He had enough sense left to know that this wasn't a mugging and held up his hands in peace. That was the last ting he remembered before dropping to the ground, unconscious.

Fury stared through the glass wall of the holding cell at the man with the suit. He stirred, drugs wearing off. "Where are you from?" the director asked.

"Uh..." The man sat up from the bed, finding himself strapped in with a few monitors attached.

"Let's start with something simpler," Fury said. "Who are you?"

"I'm the Doctor," he said. "Who are you? Human, I assume from the needless violence and unethical pursuit of curiosity."

Fury nodded. "You?"

"Not human, as I'm sure you've figured out. Not inclined to say anything more specific til I know why you attacked me," the Doctor said crossly, like he was scolding a child.

"Better safe than sorry."

The Doctor frowned. "That always ends well."

"Who are you?" Fury asked again.

"I told you, I'm the Doctor," he said. "Big secret organization like this and you haven't heard of me? Thought most of you had a special watchlist for me by now."

"Not usually our job," Fury said. "What's your name?"

"Just the Doctor," he sighed. It was an old routine.

"What do you want with earth?" Fury asked.

The Doctor made an odd, exasperated sound. "I just popped in for a visit."

Fury grunted. "We'll see about that." He strode out of the room.

* * *

In SHIELD's lab, they started tinkering with some of the gadgets they'd pulled out of the Doctors pockets. There was a wallet-like object that held only a blank sheet of paper, which didn't have any real purpose they could determine; a pair of red and blue 3-D glasses, which also seemed rather pointless; and a device a bit larger than a pen than buzzed with a blue light. They thought it might be a weapon of some kind, but they couldn't figure out exactly what it did.

Fury picked up the pen and took a cab over to Stark tower.

* * *

"You know, I thought I'd be getting a little break from you people after I saved the world." Tony didn't look up at Fury as entered his garage. He was busy tinkering with a car. "I'm busy. What do you want?"

"Potential alien threat," Fury said.

"How potential?" Tony glanced up slightly. "Like, demigods running around with stolen technology and you're calling us in late sort of potential or we're paranoid so we're going to bother Stark sort of potential?"

Fury was not amused. He produced the pen-like device for Tony to see. "We pulled that off an alien who 'popped in for a visit'. Our scientists are having trouble determining its function and how to use it."

"Yes, well, your scientists are morons," Tony mumbled. He set down the tools, stepped around the car and took the device from Fury. "Luring me out with shiny toys is so unfair." He looked over the device, then pointed it at a pile of unused parts and pushed its one button. Nothing really seemed to happen, but Tony found the sound interesting. He pointed it at Fury and pushed the button.

"Hey!" Fury shoved it away. "Be careful."

Tony shrugged. "It's not a weapon." He turned away from Fury and started messing with the sonic device some more. He seemed to notice something, then Fury took it back. "Hey." Tony pouted at him.

"I'm taking it back to SHIELD," Fury said, turning to leave. "You can come with me or you can stay here and fix cars that aren't broken."

"Uh, that one is broken," Tony said. "I had to rebuild the entire body after an accident from testing the first suit."

"Whatever you say." Fury was going up the stairs now.

Tony sighed. "Jarvis, let Pepper know that I'll be back later barring any alien invasions." He trotted after Fury. "So who's the guy who owns it?"

Fury smirked and the two went over to SHIELD facilities.


	2. Merchant of Death

**Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who or the Avengers. Just in case there was any confusion on the meaning of _fan_ fiction.**

The Doctor was no longer tied to the bed when Tony got there, but he still didn't look too pleased. He narrowed his eyes when Stark entered the room, but didn't say anything. His eyes landed on the sonic screwdriver in Tony's hand.

"Hey," Tony said. "What's this do?"

The Doctor arched an eyebrow.

"It's not a weapon," Tony continued, "and it seems to be a tool for building, but I'm having trouble getting it to work."

"You'd probably have better luck if it was a weapon," the Doctor said, putting disdainful emphasis on "you'd".

Tony smirked. "So you've heard of me."

"Anthony Edward Stark, son of Howard and Maria Stark, renowned weapons manufacturer," the Doctor said. "Also known as Tony for short or Iron Man."

"Former weapons manufacturer," Tony said.

The Doctor shrugged. "The damage is already done."

"See, this is why I hate pacifists," Tony said. "You're excessively judgmental."

The Doctor laughed at being called a pacifist.

"So you're called the Doctor." Tony changed the subject. "You planning on wreaking havoc and destruction?"

"No."

Tony shrugged. "Okay, then. So, how does this work and where can I get one?"

"You can't have one," the Doctor said.

Tony frowned. "That's not very nice."

"Well, you've been less than hospitable," the Doctor said. "And people wonder why I avoid the United States."

"Too many guns?" Tony asked sarcastically. "How did Fury confuse you with a threat?" He grunted slightly. "Oh well. Tell you what, I'll tell Fury to let you go if you show me how to use this-" he gestured with the screwdriver "-and get me one."

The Doctor sighed. "I can't see how giving you a sonic screwdriver would be a clever idea."

"'Sonic screwdriver'?" Tony repeated. "I like it. Although, you could make a laser screwdriver and use it as a drill, too." He appeared thoughtful for a moment, then nodded to himself.

"Definitely not a good idea," the Doctor murmured.

Tony looked mock offended, but didn't say anything about it. "Thank you for your cooperation, see you around." He waved, then left.

***

A few minutes later, Tony returned with Fury. The Director didn't look too encouraged by Tony's information that the Doctor was probably not going to do anything malicious. "But I still want one of these," Tony was saying. "I mean, he can have his, but I need one."

"You aren't the character witness, Stark," Fury said. "I'll be the judge of that." His phone beeped. Fury rolled his eye and picked it up. "Director Fury." He cast a suspicious look at the Doctor. "How did they die?" There was a flash of shock on his face, then back to stoic. "We'll get on it." He hung up the phone. "Looks like you're a little too trusting," Fury said to Tony.

Stark arched an eyebrow.

"Seven police officers have been found dead," Fury said. "They suffocated; their lungs were full of rose petals."

"Drowned by rose petals?" Tony said. "That's a little macabre."

The Doctor tilted his head, now interested. "I might be able to help with that."

"You know of it happening before?" Fury asked.

"Well, I've heard stories."

"I'll think about it," Fury said as he strode out of the room.

Tony lingered for a second.

"I know who you are," the Doctor said. "But who is he?"

"Nick Fury, Director of SHIELD," Tony said. "That's Strategic hrm-der something or other. Global intelligence agency thing. I'm a consultant."

The Doctor raised his eyebrows. "Of course you are."


	3. Investigations

**Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who or the Avengers. Just in case there was any confusion on the meaning of _fan_ fiction.**

Agent Hill was waiting for Fury in the morgue. There were seven bodies, each with a jar of rose petals beside them. Fury looked over them, frowning. "It's been a while since I saw something that surprised me," he said quietly. "How?"

Hill shrugged slightly. "They were all found with their lungs full of petals. One got a few out between coughing up plant matter. Said he was being followed by something angry."

"Did he get any more specific?"

Hill shook her head. "Sir," she said, "I recognize some of these people. They're all cops who were honored for their actions in the Chitauri attack."

Fury's gaze went from the bodies to the agent. "You think this has to do with that? Loki should be trapped in Asgard."

"He still has followers, maybe," Hill said. "This has to have been magical."

Fury nodded.

"But it's not Loki's style," Hill continued.

Fury nodded again. "He likes to be in the spotlight."

"Huh," Hill mused. "He makes this seems covert."

***

Tony had returned to Stark tower. "Jarvis," he said, "look up the Doctor."

"Doctor of what?"

"Just the Doctor." Tony shrugged. "Add 'sonic screwdriver', 'police box', and 'conceited pacifist' to the search terms."

"I think I'll leave the last one out," Jarvis said.

A picture of the Doctor appeared on one of the computer screens, shaggy brown hair and wild brown eyes, looking like he was running. "Is this the man you're looking for?"

"Yep, that's him. As if we were in this very room."

"Well, they are a few other men with the as title as well. A British intelligence organization known as Torchwood and another called UNIT are mentioned."

"Find servers for them and get in," Tony said. "I want to know everythin there is to know about this guy. Also, look up death by rose petals."

"Is that a metal band sir?" Jarvis asked.

"No, that actually happened," Tony said. "They...drowned, apparently."

"That's unfortunate." There a pause, then a picture of a man lying in a morgue with a jar of rose petals beside him. "Recently in Cardiff, a man raving about about being followed by shadows drowned in that manner after being incarcerated for public intoxication. Potentially related, at the same time, a woman drowned in water, though there was none around."

Tony grunted. "So not Loki, then."

"How convenient."

He tapped the sonic screwdriver against his palm, thinking. "Is the Doctor often involved in this sort of thing?"

"There's mentions of him in relation to several disasters," Jarvis said. "But the general consensus is that he's on our side, not causing them."

"So he's a super hero," Tony said. "With time travel powers. That's new."

"SHIELD has several time travelers on their records, actually."

Tony narrowed his eyes. "Whatever." He fiddled with some spare parts, trying to get the sonic screwdriver to work.

"May I suggest you use this information to get him out of SHIELD's custody?"

Tony sighed. "I don't actually have any control over what they do with their time."

"He might be more favorable to showing you how to use that contraption if you help."

Tony paused. "I see what you did there." He buzzed the sonic screwdriver at screws a couple more times, then straightened up from his work. "Fine. I'll go get him out."


	4. The Living Legend

**Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who or the Avengers. Just in case there was any confusion on the meaning of _fan_ fiction.**

Tony, despite not feeling like helping anyone that day, waltzed into the room where the Doctor was being held. No one challenged him, of course, because Fury had had him there before. The Doctor was laying on the bed, though he had not given up on escaping. He was just waiting. He sighed wearily when Tony came in.

"Oh don't give me that," Tony said. "I'm here to rescue you."

"Do you have a key?" the Doctor asked. "Or a password?"

"Nope. But I've got this." Tony tapped his head. "And this." He held up the sonic screwdriver. "I'm sure it does stuff other than screw."

The Doctor nodded.

"Good," Tony said. "Tell me how to use it and I can science the door open."

"Can you get me back my TARDIS?" the Doctor asked.

Tony raised an eyebrow in question.

"The blue box," the Doctor said.

Tony's eyes lit up in realization. "Oh, your time machine."

The Doctor gave Tony a sideways glance, trying to figure out what to make of the man.

"I more or less hacked into multiple government agencies in the UK and others," Tony said.

"Why am I not surprised," the Doctor huffed.

"Because you know enough about me to know that I'm brilliant and used to sell weapons," Tony said. "But not enough to know that I don't anymore and did, in fact, save the world. With some help."

"Yeah, by destroying an entire race," the Doctor said. "And, as a point of fact, it doesn't matter that you don't make weapons anymore. The damage has been done. Your name is known on other planets, in other times because of technology you created for destruction."

Tony glared at the Doctor. "Maybe I won't free you. You're worse than a Berkeley graduate."

"Alright, the rose petal thing," the Doctor said. "I know who does that and I can probably tell you why. You're not the only clever one, Stark."

"Well, then prove it," Tony said. "Who are they?"

"Let me out and I'll help," the Doctor said. "I can't do anything useful in here."

"Can you do anything useful our of here?" Tony smirked.

The Doctor had just about had enough of Stark. "You looked me up. You know who I am. You know I'm just the person for this kind of thing."

"I also know that you have literally no moral high ground when it comes to who's killed what races," Tony said. "So here's the deal. I let you out, you help and stop acting so righteous."

"Fine."

"So, how does this work?" He waved the sonic screwdriver around. "Besides with sound waves."

"Just push the button and point it at the lock's keypad. Then you listen for what it's doing and it will tell the computer to unlock. It's really quite simple."

"Sure it is," Tony said. He buzzed the sonic screwdriver at the key pad.

"Move it up a little," the Doctor said.

Tony glared at him, tempted not to, but obeyed anyway.

The cell snapped open and the Doctor stepped out. He held out his hand for the sonic screwdriver.

"I don't do high fives," Tony said.

The Doctor rolled his eyes and snapped his fingers. "Give it here."

Tony sighed exaggeratedly and slapped the screwdriver into the Doctor's hand. "I still want one."

"No."

Tony ignored him and started walking to the door. "Come on, let's see about getting your time machine..."

"Is that what it is?" Steve stood in the doorway, wearing the Captain America uniform. "The police box."

Tony looked at the Doctor. "I didn't invite him."

"No, Fury sent me." Steve crossed his arms. "He noticed that you were in here without supervision and decided that wasn't the best idea.:

"Yeah, well, he was right." Tony smiled. "Look, I'm kinda busy right now. You and SHIELD can get out of the way or you can help, I don't really care."

"Who is this?" the Doctor asked.

"Captain Steve Rogers." Steve crossed his arms.

"He's a science experiment," Tony said. "Super soldier thing."

"Tony," Steve said. "Let's not fight."

"Okay." Tony started to push past him to get out the door.

Steve shoved him away. "That's not what I meant and you know it."

"No harm in hoping," Tony said.

"Look, Captain." The Doctor stepped forward. "I'm on your side. I can help. I can, hopefully, keep more people from being killed right now."

"Hopefully?" Steve raised an eyebrow.

"Well, there really aren't any guarantees in life, are there."

"What do you know about it?" Steve asked.

"They're faeries," the Doctor said. "Not aliens."

"Not Loki?" Steve said.

"Loki?" the Doctor said. "The Asgardian?"

"You know him?" Tony said.

"I met him once."

**A/N: Whaaat? Other Avengers besides Tony exist? Ohhhhhhh...**


	5. Previously, in the TARDIS

**Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who or the Avengers. Just in case there was any confusion on the meaning of _fan_ fiction.**

**FLASHBACK TIME.  
**

It had been a normal day for the Doctor, just gallivanting about in his TARDIS, when-still inside the time vortex-something hit the blue box and knocked it onto an asteroid. Surprised, the Doctor opened the doors and looked outside. There was a man in armor with a green cape lying outside. The Doctor quickly dragged him inside the TARDIS.

Loki's eyes snapped open and he scrambled away from the Doctor. "How dare you touch me, mortal! What is this place?"

"I'm the Doctor. This is a spaceship. You hit it." The Doctor took a step closer. "So you're not human, you wouldn't have survived that. Where are you from?"

"As-Jotunheim." Loki looked around, trying to get his bearings.

"You don't look like a frost giant."

Loki sneered at him. "What do you know."

"Quite a lot," the Doctor said. "I'm not human, either."

"What are you, then?"

"Time Lord." The Doctor knew Jotuns and Asgardians were capable of traveling to a few other planets, but this one seemed different.

Loki straightened, reminding himself that he was a king and even a lord of time was beneath him. "I am Prince Loki."

The Doctor had heard the name, of course; he was well-versed in earth mythologies, especially the ones that turned out to be real. "Do you want to tell me how you ended up in the time vortex?"

"I fell."

"And?"

"Do not question me."

The Doctor held his hands up. "Alright."

Loki sat down on the steps, lounging like he owned the place.

"You can't stay here, you know," the Doctor said. "I have other things to do."

Loki narrowed his eyes.

"Is there anywhere you would like to go?" the Doctor asked. "I can drop you of."

Loki hesitated. "There's no where for me."

"So you're an exiled prince, then."

Loki stood suddenly, making an indistinct, but very angry sound.

The Doctor stood his ground, not defiantly, but a little sympathetically. "Earth's nice this time of here. New outfit and you'd fit-"

Loki growled a sound of raw emotion.

"-right in," the Doctor finished. "You know, I'm actually starting to see the frost giant. I take it you're not a fan of earth..."

"Not remotely," Loki said. "The humans have brought nothing but misery to me."

"Well, they're young." The Doctor shrugged. "They're marvelous, brilliant and terrible. Trust me, though, they spend more time killing each other than anyone else."

"This is a point in their favor?"

"No, I suppose not."

Loki thought for a moment, then said, "Take me to earth."

The Doctor was mildly suspicious of this sudden change, but Loki seemed more broken than dangerous. "Time?"

"Early 21st century," Loki said. "I need to find a scientist called Jane Foster."

The Doctor punched a few buttons on the TARDIS and they were off.


	6. Misunderstood Science

**Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who or the Avengers. Just in case there was any confusion on the meaning of _fan_ fiction.**

**And now back to your regularly scheduled programming...  
**

"So you said these things are faeries?" Tony said. He, the Doctor, and Steve were heading into the lab to find the rest of the Doctor's stuff and the TARDIS.

"Well, I mean, sort of," the Doctor said.

"But they're magical," Steve said.

"I hate magic…" Tony said.

Steve rolled his eyes. "That's only because you don't understand it."

"Well, yes."

"It's not magic," the Doctor said. "You humans just don't understand them yet." He gestured with the sonic screwdriver. "You didn't call this magic because it looks electrical. But it's so far beyond your understanding that it might as well be magic."

Tony hmphed.

"So what's their game?" Steve asked as they reached the lab.

"Can't be entirely sure." The Doctor found the psychic paper, 3-D glasses, and TARDIS key. "I'd guess it has something to do with one of the Chosen being in danger. Or dead."

Tony snorted. "What."

"The faeries used to be human." The Doctor opened the TARDIS. "Come on in. We've got things to do."

Tony and Steve exchanged a skeptical look, neither thinking three people could fit in the police box, but stepping in anyway to find that it was not so small.

"Anyway, the Chosen are children who will eventually become faeries." The Doctor started punching buttons on the TARDIS console. "And the faeries are incredibly protective of them. So, I need information on the police officers that died."

"Hill and Fury should be back from the morgue any time now," Steve said. "They should have that information."

"Why don't you stay here and wait for them?" Tony started poking around the TARDIS.

"Don't touch anything," the Doctor snapped.

Tony put one finger on one of the supports. "Can you imagine," he said, "what you could do with bigger-on-the-inside technology? Housing, storage, prisons…the list of things that take up more room than necessary is endless."

"Stop it," the Doctor said. "You especially can not have any of this."

"Me, especially." Tony crossed his arms. "We're honestly gonna go through this again."

"It sounds reasonable to me," Steve said. "Sorry, Tony."

Tony gave Steve an exasperated look. "Why don't you just go get Fury and play detective?"

"Actually, why don't you?" the Doctor said. He more or less shoved Tony out of the TARDIS. "We'll meet back at Stark Tower and I can poke around with your toys." He shut the door and turned to Steve. "Allons-y!"

* * *

Tony found a foolishly abandoned box of donuts and took it back to the lab to wait for Fury. Tony would be glad to have someone around who as more morally gray than he was. Tony took a bite out of a donut and was chewing it when Fury and Hill walked in.

Fury rolled his eye. "I didn't expect you to be here. Steve and the Doctor are both gone."

"Yeah, I decided that there was more important work to be done here and told them to wait for me at an alternate meeting place." Tony set down the box of donuts. "By the way, the kitchen here is severely lacking. Not a single drop of alcohol to be found. Disappointing."

Fury and Hill exchanged tired looks, then mutually decided not to bother.

Hill folded her arms across her chest. "What do you want, Tony?"

"Whatever you two geniuses found out about the dead cops. Pooling our resources type of thing."

"If by pooling our resources you mean you avoid SHIELD altogether," Hill said.

"Well, yes."

Fury was not amused.

"Let's keep in mind that is was the Avengers, not SHIELD, that saved the world." Tony looked more smug than usually. "Look, the Doctor is some sort of monster expert from Britain. He's worked with their government before. He's…a friendly or whatever you'd call it. He knows what's going, so I'm working with him. When you figure anything out on your own, I'll work with you."

"I'll try to contain my gratitude," Fury said.

Tony sighed. "You're lucky I'm including you at all. I could just go down to the morgue and ask them. But I'm talking to you instead."

"They helped fight the Chitauri," Fury said grudgingly. "That's all we know."

"Now was that so hard?" Tony tapped Fury on the shoulder as he left. "See you later, Blackbeard."


	7. Not in the Forecast

**Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who or the Avengers. Just in case there was any confusion on the meaning of _fan_ fiction.**

Tony hated cabs, but he hated driving in New York even more and Happy was in Malibu. He stood on the sidewalk, smacked his lips, and held up his hand. He was famous enough enough that the first available cab pulled over for him. Tony thought he saw something out of the corner of his eye, but when he turned there was nothing there. He got in the cab.

"Wow, you're really Tony Stark."

"How 'bout that. Never noticed before. Stark Tower, drive."

"You got it, Mr. Stark."

It started raining. That hadn't been in the forecast. Tony heard someone whisper indistinctly behind him. He turned, but again, no one he could see.

The cabbie noticed Tony's antics. "Everything alright, sir?"

"…fine. Just drive."

The cabbie shrugged. "Would it be alright if I asked for your autograph?"

Tony pulled an already signed picture of Iron Man out of his wallet and tossed it in the front seat. "There. Now stop talking."

The cabbie looked mildly offended at Tony's bluntness, but he had dealt with ruder and less celebrated people in that past.

Tony felt a drop of water on his face. He pulled the bracelets for mach 7 out of his pocket and put them on. They were in view of the Tower. Tony dropped money on the front seat by the picture. "Pull over, I need out now."

Confused, the cabbie complied.

Tony jumped out, calling JARVIS. "I need a suit."

* * *

The Doctor dodged a flying red pod as it launched out the window of Stark Tower. He glanced at Steve questioning.

"One of Tony's suits. He must be nearby." Steve walked around the outside of the TARDIS, parked on the balcony. "I've seen something like this in London. I visited one time during the war."

The Doctor nodded.

"Why a police box?" Steve asked.

The Doctor shrugged. "Normally, a TARDIS will blend in with its surroundings, but mine got stuck like this and I never bothered to fix it. Now I'm sort of attached."

"So you're a time traveler, right?"

"Yes…"

"Could you…"

"No. I'm sorry, but no. That would greatly upset the timeline. There'd be monsters. It wouldn't end well."

"Oh." Steve put a hand on the TARDIS and sighed. "So it's not a magic fix."

The Doctor shook his head. "It's not even magic."

Tony suddenly crashed beside the TARDIS and ripped off his helmet. Water spilled out of the suit. "What the hell…"

Steve ran over to help Tony and noticed bright lights buzzing around.

The Doctor opened the TARDIS. "Get in!" He waved the sonic screwdriver at the faeries. They backed away from Tony. Steve more or less shoved Tony into in the TARDIS, grabbing the helmet as he did.

The Doctor slammed the TARDIS door shut behind them. He turned to Tony, looking a little angry. "What did you do?"

"Me?" Tony snapped. "I didn't do anything!"

"They only attack if one of the Chosen have been threatened or killed," the Doctor said.

"But I-" Tony stopped. "Oh."

"Oh?" Steve said. "Oh what?"

"Jarvis," Tony said to his ear piece. "Look up how many children died in the Chitauri attack."

"Oh." The Doctor nodded to himself. That made sense.

"The cops that got killed," Tony explained, "had all been honored for actions in the Chitauri attack."

"So one of them was supposed to become a faery?" Steve asked.

"And they're lashing out at the Avengers and others who participated in the fight in lieu of the Chitauri," the Doctor said.

Tony crossed his arms. "Well, that's not fair. If we hadn't been there, there would have been a lot more people dead."

"They don't see it that way," the Doctor said. "They're difficult to reason with; they're not even scared of me."

Tony arched an eyebrow. "That is mildly impressive."

"Why?" Steve asked.

"Never mind that." The Doctor glared at Tony. "Do you have a suit that's actually made of iron?"


	8. Widow and Hill

**Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who or the Avengers. Just in case there was any confusion on the meaning of _fan_ fiction.**

Natasha looked over the Doctor's empty cell with mild annoyance. "You should have let me talk to him before you let the Cap and Tony run off. I could have gotten much better information."

Hill shrugged, even though she was standing behind Natasha and the gesture couldn't be seen. "Let is a strong word."

"I gather it was Tony being Tony, then," Natasha said. "Regardless."

"On the plus side, the Doctor doesn't appear to be a hostile."

"Small favors." Natasha sighed and turned around, suddenly looking confused. "Behind you."

Hill turned to see a little ball of light hovering through the door. She tilted her head in confusion as another followed. As one neared, she could make out legs and arms. "They're… tiny people."

Natasha pulled out her gun. "What are they doing here?"

Both lights seemed to be heading straight for Natasha. "I don't think they're friendly…" Hill pulled out her gun. "Can you hit targets so small?"

Natasha shrugged slightly and fired her gun at the nearest fairy. It dodged, then turned from a mote of light to a creature best described as a goblin. It hissed and leapt at Natasha too fast for her to get a good shot in. It landed on her and they grappled for a moment before Hill took a shot.

The fairy let out another hiss, but the bullet in its back seemed more like a distraction than actually hurting it. Natasha kicked it over her head and rolled to her feet in the same motion.

The other fairy leapt towards Natasha as well, taking its larger form as it did. Hill frowned; she had expected that they would start attacking her as well, but they seemed focused on the Black Widow.

Hill glimpsed more lights in the corner of her eye. "Romanoff. More coming."

Natasha glared. "Get reinforcements down here. Where's Barton?"

"Elsewhere," Hill said. "He wouldn't get here in time."

Natasha swore under her breath and she fired several shots at the nearby fairies.

It started raining.

"I thought Thor was still in Asgard." Hill shot at the fairies, but they still ignored her.

"I don't think this is Thor," Natasha said. "I think it's them." She started to say something else, but instead convulsed, gasping for air.

Hill shoved the fairies away from Natasha. "We can't fight them." She looked around, then pushed Natasha towards the cell.

Natasha nodded to Hill and let the door be closed on her. The fairies, some in their goblin-like forms and some still as floating lights, sat close to the wall, but didn't try to go through it. Natasha gave the fairies a disdainful look, like a cat regarding people that dared to cage it.

"I'll get help," Hill said.

"Just figure out how to kill these things. And maybe why they're after me while ignoring you."

Hill nodded and ran off.


	9. Blue Box on the Balcony

**Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who or the Avengers. Just in case there was any confusion on the meaning of _fan_ fiction.**

"Find Stark and the Doctor."

Fury and Hill were in Fury's office, watching Natasha on the security feed.

Hill nodded.

"Romanoff, we've got back up on the way," Fury said over the intercom. "Sit tight."

Natasha arched an eyebrow at the security camera and crossed her arms. Like she was going anywhere.

Hill grabbed a phone and called Tony at Stark Tower.

Pepper answered. "I'm sorry, this is a private line, who are you?"

"Agent Maria Hill of SHIELD. Is Tony there?"

"Is this about the blue box on the balcony?" Pepper asked.

"It's a space ship of some kind," Hill said. "We need its pilot. Stark and Rogers were with him."

"I'll knock, then."

* * *

There was a knock on the outside of the TARDIS. Steve and Tony both looked at the Doctor, who shrugged. "I've never known the fairies to knock."

"It must be Pepper, then," Tony said.

The Doctor frowned. "Pepper?"

"His lady friend," Steve said.

Tony rolled his eyes at Steve. "Can we just open the door? We should see what she needs."

"Also, evil fairies," Steve said.

"Right, then." The Doctor opened the door. "Hello, Pepper, I'm the Doctor and I'm astounded by your patience in putting up with Tony Stark enough to be in a romantic relationship with him."

Pepper, unfazed, huffed at Tony for apparently being a pain. "SHIELD needs you."

Tony sighed.

"Not you, the Doctor." She held up the phone to her ear. "Apparently, some supernatural creatures attacked and Romanoff is trapped."

"Oh!" The Doctor pulled Pepper into the TARDIS and shut the door. "They're going after people who were directly involved with the fight. Not the people who were involved from afar."

"These fairies are very simplistic," Tony said.

Pepper switched the phone to speaker so Hill could hear what was going on. "Can't you just tell them that the Avengers didn't do whatever it is that made the… fairies angry?"

The Doctor shook his head. "it's not that easy."

"What if you redirected their anger?" Hill suggested from the phone.

* * *

"Romanoff, you getting this?" Fury's voice sounded over the radio in her ear.

Natasha nodded, then turned to the fairies. "Do you… speak?"

The fairies all spoke at once. "We do."'


	10. Handled

**Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who or the Avengers. Just in case there was any confusion on the meaning of _fan_ fiction.**

"Do you… speak?"

The fairies all spoke at once. "We do."

Natasha narrowed her eyes, trying to determine the best way to address them. She expected they wouldn't fall for the weak little girl trick, so she decided to be a little more direct. "Why are you attacking?"

"You killed our child."

"I did not."

A couple fairies hissed. "Our child died in your battle."

"The Chitauri attack? That wasn't our fault."

"The others in the fight have already paid the price. The foreigners."

Natasha nodded, getting a feel for the way the fairies talked. "The Chitauri instigated, we were defending. You should be going after their leader."

"We saw no leader."

"His name is Loki of Asgard. But he's not on this planet right now. You'll have to go find him."

There was some indistinct whispering amongst the fairies, then they began to fly away. "When we're done with him, you shall see us again."

The TARDIS appeared and the Doctor stepped out. "I'll… handle this. Where'd they go?"  
Natasha rolled her eyes. "I took care of it."

Tony smirked at the Doctor. "See? We didn't need you after all."

"Actually, his police box saved your life," Steve said.

"Boys." Natasha pointed at the cell's control panel.

"What if we just left her in there?" Tony suggested.

"What if I pulled out your reactor?"

The Doctor waved the sonic screwdriver at the door and it popped open with a hiss.

"Well, I'd say it's about time I went." The Doctor waved half-heartedly at Natasha. "Before SHIELD gets any ideas. Steve, Pepper, always a pleasure. Stark, out of my TARDIS and don't make a laser screwdriver. They're nothing but trouble." Having shooed the humans out of his ship, the Doctor closed the doors and the TARDIS disappeared.

**And that's the end.**


End file.
